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EXTREMELY FINE STRIKE OF THE WATERBURY MAN WITH HAT FANCY CANCELLATION. A MARVELOUS EXAMPLE OF POSTMASTER JOHN W. HILL'S ARTISTRY AND IMAGINATION. ONLY TWO ONE-CENT 1861 COVERS ARE RECORDED WITH THIS CANCELLATION.
Notation on back indicates this was acquired from Harry Keffer in 1952. With 2001 P.F. certificate. (Image)
Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com
VERY FINE STRIKE OF THE RARE AND DESIRABLE WATERBURY ANDREW JOHNSON TOMBSTONE FANCY CANCELLATION. ESPECIALLY DESIRABLE ON A LOCALLY-ADDRESSED ONE-CENT GRILLED ISSUE COVER.
Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency after Lincoln's assassination in April 1865. After nearly three years of a troubled presidency, impeachment proceedings against Johnson were instigated by Radical Republicans, and the House of Representatives agreed to the articles of impeachment on March 2, 1868. President Johnson was acquitted on May 16, 1868. The "A.J." Tombstone cancel was first used in Waterbury in 1869, and it probably reflects Postmaster Hill's sentiments about the end of Johnson's term of office and his political future (Grant was elected in 1868 and inaugurated in 1869).
Ex Dr. Jackson. With 1986 A.P.S. certificate (Image)
VERY FINE APPEARANCE. A SPECTACULAR AND RARE FRANKING FROM HAWAII TO SAN FRANCISCO. ESPECIALLY RARE WITH THE ONE-CENT STAMP.
This cover is illustrated and discussed in the Gregory book (Volume II, page 175). According to Gregory, it was carried from Honolulu to San Francisco on the American bark Comet (cleared May 23, 1867, arrived June 6). After the Act of March 1863 effectively reduced the city delivery rate in San Francisco from 2c to 1c, the correct prepaid U.S. postage should have been 3c (1c for local delivery plus 2c ship captain's fee). However, surviving covers show that there was much confusion over the correct amount to prepay.
Ex Knapp, Tows, Juhring and Honolulu Advertiser. With 1996 P.F. certificate (Image)
EXTREMELY FINE. BY FAR THE FINEST OF THREE RECORDED 30-CENT 1861 ISSUE USES FROM HAWAII AND THE ONLY ONE TO GERMANY. A MAGNIFICENT COVER THAT RANKS AMONG THE FINEST OF ALL 1861 ISSUE COVERS FROM HAWAII.
The rate from the United States to Germany by Prussian Closed Mail was 28c. The 30c stamp on this cover correctly prepays the 28c PCM rate and 2c ship captain's fee, which was required on mail from Hawaii to the United States prior to August 3, 1866 (Gregory book, Volume II, page 274).
According to Gregory, this cover was carried from Honolulu to San Francisco by the American Bark D. C. Murray (cleared May 18, 1865, arrived June 10). Gregory explains: "For that voyage, the Murray was put on the Hawaiian Packet Line, formed in March 1864 to compete with the Regular Dispatch Line (formed in 1860 but operated intermittently). Both Lines were a loose affiliation of sailing ships (sometimes comprised of a single ship) attempting to establish regular non-contract routes between Honolulu and San Francisco. Neither organization succeeded, probably because an individual ship's success depended more on her captain's reputation than on any affiliation, and both disappeared in 1865." The July 8 New York transit and July 21 Saxony receiving datestamps point to a Saturday July 8th sailing of the Inman Line's City of Boston, which arrived in Liverpool on July 18, allowing three days to reach Germany.
There are three 30c 1861 covers from Hawaii recorded by us and confirmed by Gregory:
1) Honolulu, May 18, 1865, to Saxony, Germany, 28c PCM rate plus 2c ship captain's fee, the cover offered here, ex Brigham, Powers, Jessup, Haas, Paliafito and Dr. Martin
2) Honolulu, Dec. 15, 1865, to Copenhagen, Denmark, 31c PCM rate, ex Aall (Siegel Sale 805, lot 57)
3) Honolulu, Sep. 25, 1867, to San Francisco, first day of the 10c contract rate, triple rate, ex Honolulu Advertiser (Siegel Sale 869, lot 2225).
The cover to Copenhagen has a piece missing from one stamp. The cover offered here is superb in every respect.
Ex Brigham, Powers, Jessup, Haas, Paliafito and Dr. Martin. Written up in Ashbrook's Special Service (Photo No. 25). With 1990 P.F. certificate (Image)
EXTREMELY FINE. A RARE AND SUPERB USE WITH THE 30-CENT 1861 STAMP PAYING BOTH THE POSTAGE AND SUPPLEMENTARY MAIL FEE AND CANCELLED SOLELY BY THE NEW YORK SUPPLEMENTARY MAIL MARKING.
After the regular mail bags were prepared for a ship's scheduled sailing, letters could be posted by Supplementary Mail and rushed on board prior to departure. Supplementary Mail letters were charged double the rate of postage (in this case, 15c becomes 30c), and the extra fee could be paid in cash or stamps. The special "Supplementary Mail" handstamp was rarely used as a cancel.
Illustrated in Brookman (Vol. 2, p. 61) and in Ashbrook's Special Service (pp. 588-589). Typed transcript of contents accompanies. Ex Paliafito and "Sevenoaks". With 2001 P.F. certificate (Image)
VERY FINE. A COLORFUL AND EXCEEDINGLY RARE FRANKING FOR THE DOUBLE-33-CENT RATE TO CAPE OF GOOD HOPE VIA ENGLAND.
The sender's ship routing "via England p. Persia" corresponds to the June 18, 1862, departure of the Cunarder Persia from New York and arrival at Queenstown on June 27 (datestamped at London on the following day).
Ex Emerson and Knapp (lot label affixed). With 2007 P.F. certificate (Image)
VERY FINE. A UNIQUE DOUBLE-FORWARDED USE FROM THE UNITED STATES TO THE AMERICAN CONSULATES IN HONG KONG, SHANGHAI AND YOKOHAMA. THE HONG KONG CONSULAR SEAL HANDSTAMP IS EXTREMELY RARE, AND THE SHANGHAI CONSULATE TWO-LINE HANDSTAMP IS ALSO EXTREMELY RARE.
This cover made an amazing journey from New York City to Capt. John Goldsborough, commander of the U.S.S. Shenandoah. Wikipedia details the exact voyage of the Shenandoah: "On 28 April 1866, she departed Rio de Janeiro to join the Asiatic Squadron. After rounding the Cape of Good Hope, she visited Bombay and Calcutta; then touched at Penang before arriving at Singapore on 31 December 1866. She next proceeded to Bangkok where she received a friendly greeting from the King of Siam and his ministers before sailing via Saigon for Japan. She arrived at Yokohama on 5 April 1867. There, on the 27th, Shenandoah embarked General Robert B. Van Valkenburgh, U.S. Minister to Japan, for transport to Osaka where he landed on 1 May for an interview with the Tycoon, or Supreme Commander. There he learned that the Japanese government proposed to open additional ports to foreign trade. His mission in Osaka was completed by 20 May when he returned on board Shenandoah to return to Yokohama. The ship was then placed at General Van Valkenburgh's disposal, to assist him in examining the different ports most suitable for commercial purposes. She left Yokohama again on 25 June and reached Hakodate on the 28th. The first salute that was ever fired there in honor of a foreign minister marked the occasion."
This cover, marked received at Yokohama on June 7, 1867, must have caught up with the Shenandoah just before its trip to Hakodate.
According to the Frajola-Perlman-Scamp book, the authorization to establish the U.S. postal agency in Shanghai was approved by the postmaster general and the State Department on June 10, 1867. On October 14, 1867, the official appointment reached George F. Seward, the U.S. consul in Shanghai (and nephew of Secretary of State William Seward). The first eastbound trip after the start of the new U.S. Postal Agency in Shanghai was the October 17 sailing of the PMSS Costa Rica.
This cover was handled by the U.S. consulate in Shanghai in the manner that was customary prior to the creation of the U.S. Postal Agency in 1867. U.S. Consul Seward and other consuls essentially acted as forwarders of mail to and from various vessels entering their ports.
Ex Ishikawa, Paliafito and Drucker. Illustrated in Imperial China, History of the Posts to 1896 by Major Richard Pratt, FRPSL, and in The United States Post Offices in China and Japan 1867-1874 by Frajola, Perlman and Scamp. With 2003 P.F. certificate (Image)